Endangered bottle nosed dolphins of the Great Barrier Reef

#bottlenosedolphin #greatbarrierreef #SarahDwyer #ecosystem The bottle nosed dolphins have been put in the category of endangered species in New Zealand. Here, their population is concentrated in three main known regions – namely, Doubtful Sound in Fiordland, between the Marlborough Sounds and Westport, and around the Bay of Islands area.
Researchers have now come across another hot-spot for these dolphins - near the shores of Great Barrier Island. This has been reported in nzherald.co.nz dated 1 April 2015.

This has been revealed by Massey University marine biologist Sarah Dwyer who has conducted study of the nearly 21,000-Km of water in the Hauraki Gulf. She has succeeded in pin-pointing this location as an important all-year-round spot for around 170 individual dolphins.
As per the estimates of Department of Conservation, approximately 450 dolphins make up the Bay of Islands population whereas the size of the groups in the gulf observed by Miss Dwyer were much larger.
She has concluded that since the number of dolphins in the Bay of Islands was on the decline, it was necessary to preserve the eco-system of the gulf. The gulf area was a busy area because of plenty of shipping traffic and this poses a threat to the dolphins.
Miss Dwyer had conducted her 279-day study on a dedicated research boat. She had undertaken visual surveys using occupancy modelling, which factored in the probability of spotting a dolphin or whale. Previous mapping exercises have relied mostly on tourist vessels.
The bottle nosed dolphins can reach lengths of nearly 4m, are dark or light grey on the back with white on the undersides and these are particularly susceptible to human impacts due to their coastal nature.

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